Good Morning All,
Clay jars are an interesting creation. They look and are extremely fragile. It doesn’t take much to destroy them. One well-placed rock or one good kick and
they shatter into dozens if not hundreds of pieces. It would be very foolish to place anything of
value in a clay jar. Most people would
use stone or iron to form a protective shield around the valued possession, but
you would not use a clay jar. That would
be foolish, some would even say madness.
The risk of losing the valued treasure would surely out way all the
benefits of using a clay jar. Benefits
that I can’t even think of right now.
Yet that is exactly where God placed his
valued treasure, in a clay jar. This
highly reassured item is the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of sins, the reconciliation
of people back to God through Jesus, the adoption as sons of God; are among
this wonder precious gift. This is
something which needs to be shared with all of mankind. So how does God do this? Does he use angels to tell the world like he
did at Jesus’ birth? Does He use a flood
like He did at the time of Noah? Does He
send plagues like He did to Egypt at the time of the Exodus? These might be smarter in the eyes of the world,
but God uses something or actually someone totally different; God uses you and
me to deliver this message of good news.
Even though we are frail and break easily
and often; God chooses to use us. He
uses us as His partners in this ministry of reconciliation which began with
Jesus. Jesus gave us a new covenant to
live under. One based entirely on God’s
grace; one where we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us the
faith to trust in God’s promises and in is Word. We are still a work in progress. We are still God’s handiwork. God is still shaping and forming us to be
what we were created to be and that is the keeper of god’s creation and to be
companions with each other starting with our spouse and then our family and
then our neighbors. We were created to
live a life of perfect communion and companionship with God. Yet sin ruined that and made us into clay jars,
but God still loves us. That is one of
the great wonders of the Bible. Too
often we read the stories in the Bible and then we try and see where we “fit
in” the story. The story is never about
us or where we fit in. The story is
always about God and about the very nature of God. Scriptures reveals that god is a just God
demanding payment for a debt. But it
also shows a loving God who sent his only son to die for that debt. The Bible shows us what great love God has
for us by not destroying us for our sins.
It shows God’s patience with us trusting this incredible treasure to us
a bunch of cracked clay jars. First God
gives this gift of redemption to us and then He trusts us to carry it forward
to the ends of the earth for him.
Father
of all mercies, keep us safe within the shelter of your arms. Protect us, your clay jars, that we may
fulfill your holy ministry. Guide us to
those who are in most desperate need of your love and lead us to share the Good
News of salvation, which is found in the name of Jesus, in whose precious name
we pray, Amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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